Court sides with county in coroner's case

COLUMBIA — A coroner’s actions following a car crash that killed a 20-year-old man were inappropriate, said a court Wednesday, but the man’s family is not entitled to the civil damages they may have lost because of the coroner’s missteps.

That was the decision by the S.C. Court of Appeals this week, affirming a circuit court decision.

The family claimed that the coroner’s behavior had limited the damages they were able to win from the store that sold the underaged man beer.

The court decision describes the case like this: In 2005, Paul Trask, III, drank beer at his parents’ Beaufort home. He then drove his father’s car to a Hess gas station named Xpress Lane on Boundary Street, where he purchased beer without being forced to verify his age. Trask drove 22 miles to Fripp Island, but was turned away at the security gate, drove 4 four miles away and collided with some trees. The car caught fire and Trask died, either from the impact, fire, or both.

The man’s parents alleged that Copeland failed to identify the body, to conduct an autopsy, and to prepare a toxicology report.

Trask’s parents reached a $750,000 settlement with Hess and Xpress Lane. But they said they could have been able to collect more if Copeland had done his job.

So the couple sued Beaufort County and Copeland, both as the coroner of Beaufort County and as a crematory operator, owner of Copeland Company of Beaufort, LLC, which owns and operates Copeland Funeral Home and Coastal Cremation Services.

The couple wanted damages for emotional harm and for the reduced settlement value.

According to the court decision, after the accident, Trask’s mother asked Copeland if he planned to perform an autopsy. Copeland said it was unnecessary. And months later when Copeland was asked how badly Trask’s body was burned in the accident, the coroner replied, “You couldn’t tell if the body was black, white, or Mexican,” according to the court decision.

“This case is troubling because Copeland did violate at least some of the statutes, and conducted himself in a manner we believe was inappropriate,” reads the court’s decision.

“We hold, however, that the law does not provide a remedy for this conduct in the form of civil damages.”

Copeland died of cancer in December, after retiring in 2008 from a 28-year career as Beaufort County coroner, having been elected in 1980 and then re-elected every four years. An article published in Bluffton Today said Copeland had started working in the funeral business at age 14 and ultimately sold his funeral home in 2008 to a longtime friend.